24 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAP.
the lists, and found that out of 45 senior classics (1824-68 inclusive) 10 had gained the scholarship, whence I conclude that at least 1 out of every 4 or 5 Cambridge graduates is the son of a clergyman. At this rate, out of 100 Cambridge graduates, 22 would have had clergymen of the Church of England for their fathers, whereas out of 100 scientific men only 3 or 4
were so circumstanced. It is therefore a fact, that in proportion to the pains bestowed on their education generally, the sons of clergymen rarely take a lead in science. The pursuit of science is uncongenial to the priestly character. It has fallen to my lot to serve for many years on the councils of many scientific societies, and, excepting a very few astronomers and mathematicians, about whom I will speak directly, I can only recall 3 colleagues who were clergymen ; curiously enough, 2 of these, the Revs. Baden Powell and Dunbar Heath, have been prosecuted for unorthodoxy ; the third was Bishop Wilberforce, who can hardly be said to have loved science ; he rarely attended the meetings, but delighted in administration, and sought
